The Accidental Hero

Chapter 7

Sandy listened to Seth babble. The euphoria he felt at having Ryan back was evident; at first his mouth spewed forth a bitter diatribe against the people who had done this to his friend. He had swiftly moved on to how Ryan had indeed been endowed with super powers. Who else but a Chino super hero could have escaped from the clutches of two gun toting thugs and live to see the day? It was good to see Seth back; the quiet, morose individual of the last six hours had worried him. That wasn't Seth; this loud, wildly gesticulating teen was his son

They all waited in the hospital corridor for news on Ryan's condition.

Sandy would let himself feel the full joy of Ryan's return once they found out that he was going to be O.K. The initial elation of seeing Ryan lying on the patio in Summer's arms had been fantastic. Sandy had hated to admit it but he had feared the worse, he had tried to stay positive but he was sure that he'd get the call to identify his body at the morgue…to see Ryan alive was the best feeling in the world.

Kirsten had immediately run to the front of the house to summon the two cops when he and Seth could only stare. They radioed for an ambulance and put a call in to the station to say that the elusive Mr Atwood had just shown up back at the house. Only then did the cold hard shock set in as the Cohens took in his condition.

Sandy was no doctor but he could see the kid was in bad shape. Ryan was the type of person that if he were to accidentally cut the top of his finger off he'd swear blind that it was just a paper cut. The fact that he was still on the floor not making any attempt to get up spoke volumes. They could all see the bruises on his face but when Kirsten had gently lifted his tee to reveal the livid discoloration that covered his torso, it was clear to see that the bastards had really worked him over.

The EMT-P's had quickly rushed in and his guardians could only watch the flurry of activity happening around Ryan as they assessed him. Sandy had held onto Kirsten's hand and listened to snatches of their conversation. 'Could indicate internal bleeding'… 'Possible kidney damage'… 'His B.P's low'… 'Tachycardic'…'He's clammy to the touch'… 'Showing signs of shock'…'Let's get him on some oxygen'…

They had loaded him onto a stretcher and all they could do was follow him blindly to the hospital. The wait was the worst. Every time a white coat came down the corridor they all jumped to attention, only to fall back into their seats when the doctor passed them by. Sandy voiced his thoughts that he might just throttle someone if he didn't hear something soon; Kirsten muttered that he would have to get behind her in line for that privilege, Summer added that she was first. Seth just scowled.

Ryan was getting pissed off. He'd been prodded, poked, x-rayed and scanned. They told him to relax but when he did, they told him…no, he mustn't sleep… he must keep awake. He felt like a performing poodle as they all barked orders and questions at him.

Could he feel that, could he feel this?

Was he dizzy?

Vision blurred?

Did that hurt when pressed?

Did this?

Can you move your legs…. now your arms…. pins and needles anywhere?

Nauseous?

That particular question had been answered quite definitely as an outpouring of vomit rushed out of his throat with no chance of warning his attendants. He'd been rolled quickly onto his side and what he could only think was a mini vacuum cleaner nozzle had been unceremoniously shoved into his mouth. He was then rolled onto his back to stare at the ceiling and all the faces once more.

If he had to choose one word to describe how he felt, it would be miserable and just as he was beginning to think that they were indeed just tormenting him for sport, he had felt a warm glow travel up his arm and he felt his eyelids grow heavy as they finally let him sleep.

"Hey, sleepyhead. I was wondering when you were going to wake up!"

A soft singsong voice broke through the white noise he heard in his head and he slowly opened his eyes. He blinked several times until he could focus on the person in front of him. A smiling, auburn haired nurse was looking down at him.

"Hi Honey, I'm Sandie, your nurse and you must be Ryan."

She must have seen him look around the room confused. She smiled at him again.

"The other Sandy is outside and probably cursing me. I wanted some 'alone time' with you to do your checks. How're you feeling?"

"A bit rough."

Sandie laughed.

"Honey I believe that is probably the understatement of the year but I've been warned by your family that you're the strong silent type."

She went to the top of his bed, raised him to a semi reclining position, and noticed him wince as he moved.

"It's time for your meds now anyway young man so you should feel a bit more comfortable soon."

Ryan watched as she injected the canular in the back of his hand.

"Thanks."

"They also told me you were polite and that you were quite the one with the ladies. I must admit that they were right on all counts. Boy, there is going to be a rush on the ward with nurses volunteering to give you a bed bath. I think I'll pull rank on that one! Those pain meds kicking in yet Honey?"

Ryan felt himself blush to the roots of his hair as he nodded.

Nurse Sandie laughed at his expression. It was cruel to wind the boy up so soon but she always figured that banter helped take away the unpleasantness of being stuck in a hospital bed, also she never could keep her wicked sense of humor in check. She winked and opened the door and called his visitors in.

"He's all yours, ladies and gentlemen…. I'll see you later with my sponge Ryan."

She gave him a bawdy wink and breezed out of the room.

"How do you do that Ryan, even asleep you attract the ladies?" Sandy laughed.

"Sweetie…how are you feeling?" Kirsten lent in and gave him a gentle hug.

"Hey, it's good to see you awake man. You don't know how boring it is watching you snore for hours Ryan." Seth held his hand out for a high five. Ryan slapped his hand.

"Good to see you man." Ryan smiled at his friend.

"He was not snoring Seth!" Kirsten exclaimed.

"Well drooling then, he was definitely drooling."

"There was a certain amount of drool involved." Sandy chuckled.

"Don't listen to them Ryan, you did not drool and you did not snore!" Kirsten shot a despairing look at her husband and son.

Ryan looked around the room at Sandy, Kirsten and Seth as they all beamed at him. It was a strange feeling to have all their attention on him at once and he suddenly felt overwhelmed. Tears pricked at the back of his eyes as it suddenly hit home that he could have lost everything last night. What if things had gone differently? Without this family he would truly have nothing. He lowered his head and willed the tears not to fall.

Sandy frowned. He shot a look to Seth and Kirsten. The doctor had explained that his injuries, although not life threatening, had been severe and he'd be feeling the effects for quite a while until the deep bruising on his body faded. The doctor had gone on to say he was most surprised that Ryan had managed to get home at all unaided. Sandy had warned them that none of them knew what happened to Ryan in those six missing hours and the police liaison had mentioned how hard some victims had coping with forced captivity. Sandy knew how much it had affected them and they had only experienced a fraction of what Ryan must have. Watching Ryan with his head bowed made Sandy realize that they couldn't just breeze past this like it was a normal accident. Ryan had probably been through hell.

Kirsten put her arm around Seth and squeezed him.

"Come on, let's go and see what magazines they have for Ryan down at the shop."

"I'll see if I can slip a Playboy in there for you buddy." Seth said tentatively, looking to see if Ryan would respond. He didn't. They closed the door quietly on the way out.

"Hey kid, it's going to be O.K." Sandy put his arm around Ryan.

Ryan raised his head and gave a small sigh.

"It's just…you know…"

Sandy could barely hear his voice it was so quiet.

"It's all a bit much…I know. You O.K? Are you in pain? I can get that cute nurse back?"

Ryan gave his crooked half smile.

"She just gave me a shot, I'm good. Are you all alright after…I mean, what they did?"

"Ryan you're the one in hospital, don't worry about us, we're all fine. Well, we are now that we know you are O.K…kid you can't believe how worried we all were. Seriously I'd trade a month locked in a room with Caleb compared to not knowing that you were safe."

Ryan tried to laugh but it came out as a strangled croak.

"Ryan… I can't thank you enough for what you did. If you hadn't stepped in when you did… with Kirsten."

Ryan just nodded.

"But kid that was so stupid, you could have been killed. What were you thinking?"

"Kirsten was more important."

"No. When will you realize that you are just as important to me as Seth and Kirsten? I almost went out of my mind when you disappeared, we all did."

Ryan shrugged.

Sandy wondered if Ryan would ever truly understand that he was one of the family. He sat back in his chair.

"Are you up to telling me what happened?"

Ryan shut his eyes again as he realized that he was going to have to lie.

"It wasn't that bad Sandy."

Sandy studied Ryan, waiting for him to go on, but realized that that was it. He didn't want to push him but this needed to be done.

"The police are outside and they want to talk to you. Don't worry, I'll be here with you kid."

Sandy watched Ryan's head snap up.

"If you get this out of the way then you can relax and get better. I know you and the police are a nervous mix but you have nothing to worry about."

As if on cue the door opened and two cops entered.

Ryan felt himself tense up. Shit, he wasn't prepared for them now.

They introduced themselves as Officers Parker and O'Farrell and got down to business. Ryan was aware of Sandy's eyes on him and he tried not to react to the name Parker.

The next half hour was a ballet back and forth as they threw questions at him, Ryan giving the general gist of what had happened. How he'd hit one, and then got caught by the other, the trek to the beach at gunpoint and the beating, the lost hours when he'd been out.

He glanced at Sandy and didn't like the look of pity he saw there. So he looked away.

He seemed to repeat everything a dozen times.

No, they hadn't removed their masks, and no they hadn't said anything that would help to identify them in any way.

No, there was no car mentioned by either of them.

It was dark, he had a gun at his back and was lugging an unconscious man, and his brain wasn't exactly tuned in for information gathering.

He explained about the police search of the beach and why they hadn't been found. It was pitch black along that stretch and they were well hidden. He kept to himself the conversation he'd overheard, saying that he hadn't really taken in what they had said due to the fact that he was more focused on the gun being held under his chin, but he pointedly looked at Officer Parker as he stood at the end of the bed. The cop had the good grace to look embarrassed. He gave a description of the two men knowing that the Cohens would have done that already.

He felt himself relax as Officer O'Farrell turned his attention to Sandy.

"Sir, we're mystified that no car was found at the scene. We think that maybe there was a third person that we have yet to identify…"

That had been bothering Ryan. Why hadn't they just left out the front? Why had they chosen the beach path for their escape? There wouldn't have been enough time for the police to arrive when Cody had discovered him, they could have just left the way they'd come.

"Ryan." Sandy's voice cut through his thoughts.

Ryan realized that the police were thanking him and telling him they'd get back to him if needed.

Ryan gave a shaky sigh. He felt sick and his headache had returned with a vengeance. Ryan eyed the bowl next to his bed. Sandy had sat back down again and was studying him; he removed the bowl and held it out for Ryan.

Ryan sat in silence, staring at the bowl and concentrated on not throwing up. When the feeling passed he eventually looked up at Sandy.

"You O.K?" Sandy asked.

"Mmm."

Sandy lent back in his chair and wiped his hand across his face.

"So do you want to tell me what really happened and why you lied to the police just now? All those years in the PD's office kid were not wasted. I can smell a lie a mile off and you are really, really bad at it."

Tbc